Pretty Little Liars: Emison vs. Paily — Who’s Better For Emily?

Emily (Shay Mitchell) and Paige McCullers (Lindsey Shaw) have been going strong for a while now, but the re-introduction of Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse) into Emily's life could, possibly, cause a shakeup in their relationship. After all, as we saw in Season 4, Episode 14 ("Who's in the Box?"), Alison is very much still on Emily's mind. If Ali manages to convince Em she really does love her — well, who knows what could happen!

If Emily were a real person, there's no question that we'd tell her to stick with Paige. Alison is a lot of things, but good for anyone's emotional health is not one of them. That said, this is TV, not real life, and we're here to be entertained. So which relationship — Emily/Paige or Emily/Alison — is most likely to make for good television? We weigh the pros and cons of both.

Emily/Alison

Pros: Alison is one of the most fascinating characters on the show, and having her in a romantic situation would be yet another way to leverage her complexity for compelling stories. There could be an interesting compare/contrast to the way Emily acted around her before and the way Emily would act around her now, since Em has grown and is starting to come to terms with the fact that Ali manipulated her in the past. A relationship between Ali and Emily also has the potential to show how Ali has changed — if she's changed.

Cons: If the writers went in this direction, it risks putting too much focus on Alison's dynamic with Emily, and losing sight of her relationship with all the other Liars, which would be a shame. Also, now that Emily has grown so much, an Alison/Emily relationship, if not handled really well, would seem like a step backwards in her character development — especially after her conversation with Paige in the winter premiere.

Emily/Paige

Pros: As much as we like drama in the Liars' lives, it's nice to see them happy, too, so we'd hate to see Paige and Emily break up. Plus, having Emily in a stable relationship allows the writers to focus on other parts of her life. We like the idea of having her focus on the mysteries, with Paige acting as a stabilizing force and a helping hand. We need some positivity on this show! And as an added bonus, we could see Paige getting all protective of Emily if she learns Ali is alive, which would be a fun dynamic.

Cons: At this point Paige and Emily really do seem to have worked through most of their issues — which could be a bad thing in TV Land, because happy couples don't normally make for dramatic tension.

What do you think: Are you team Emily/Paige, or do you like the idea of the show exploring Emily/Alison? Let us know in the comments below!

Rebecca Martin is an Associate Editor at Wetpaint Entertainment and our resident Game of Thrones, Pretty Little Liars, and genre TV expert. Follow her on Twitter and Google+!